Recently, in the field of endoscope, a swallowable capsule endoscope has been proposed. This capsule endoscope is provided with an imaging function and a radio communication function. The capsule endoscope has a function of moving in a body cavity, for example, inside of a stomach and a small intestine with peristalsis, after it is swallowed from the mouth of a subject for observation (examination) until it is naturally discharged, and imaging intra-subject images, for example, at intervals of 0.5 second.
While the endoscope is moving in the body cavity, image data imaged in the body by the capsule endoscope is sequentially transmitted to the outside by radio communications, and stored in a memory provided in a receiving device. If the subject carries the receiving device having the radio communication function and the memory function, the subject swallows the capsule endoscope and then can freely move until the endoscope is discharged (for example, see Patent Document 1).
In the above capsule endoscope system, after a series of imaging operation by the capsule endoscope are completed, the image data stored in the receiving device is generally transferred to a workstation or the like, and the images are viewed afterwards. However, there are strong demands from doctors for real-time viewing of the images of concerned spots or the like. There has been proposed a system including a simplified image display apparatus that displays images on a real-time basis based on the radio signal transmitted from the capsule endoscope.
The conventional simplified image display apparatus, in its simplest configuration, is configured to be electrically connectable to the receiving device, and includes a small display screen and a predetermined signal processing unit. By having such a configuration, the simplified image display apparatus can receive a signal having subjected to receiving processing by the receiving device, and display images imaged by the capsule endoscope on the small display screen based on the input signal after having performed predetermined processing.
Among the conventional simplified image display apparatuses, one having an output terminal for outputting the image data generated based on the signal input by the receiving device to an external monitor has been proposed. The configuration with the output terminal allows for, on the one hand, viewing of the image data on the small screen equipped on the simplified image display apparatus at a normal occasion, and on the other hand, display of the image on a large monitor of a TV receiver, for example, when a image displayed on the small screen suggests a presence of a lesion and more detailed examination is required.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-19111